Friday, June 23, 2017

Spartak Moscow All-Time Team

This is my selection of a 25 member all-time team for the club. The number 25 was chosen because it is the official squad size for the Champions' League.In the early days of Soviet football, almost all the teams were related to the government—Dinamo with the police, CSKA with the army and Spartak Moscow, created by a trade union public organization was considered to be "the people's team." Spartan Moscow was the second most successful football team in the Soviet Union and the most successful Russian club after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The club was founded by the Starostin brothers with help from Alexander Kosarev, secretary of the Komsomol (Communist Union of Youth) in the early 1930's.

2016-2017 Russian Premier League Champion

TeamGK: Rinat Dasaev (USSR)He was considered one of the best keepers in the world during the 1980's. He was capped 91 times from 1979 to 1990, being the second-most capped player ever for the Soviet Union. He appeared in the 1982, 1986 and 1990 FIFA World Cups, as well as the Euro 1988, where the Soviets finished second.

Rinat Dasaev

GK: Anatoly Akimov (USSR)Akimov was also a handball player. He played for the Moscow teams " Trigogorka ", " Spartak ", " Dynamo ", " Torpedo " and the Air Force . He was considered one of the best Soviet goalkeepers of the pre-war period. GK: Vladislav Zhmelkov (USSR)Zhmelkov played Spartak Moscow and CSKAS Moscow before the War. He won the best sportsman of the USSR in 1939.

LB/RB: Mikhail Ogonkov (USSR)He was a member of the USSR team that won the 1956 Olympic gold medal. He spent his entire career with Spartak Moscow. He career was cut short in 1958 when he was suspended for three years.

CB: Vasily Sokolov (USSR)In 1929, he began his career in local football team Żeldor. He played for DKA Smolensk (1934-1936). In October 1936, he played one match for CDKA Moscow, and the following year he returned to Smolensk DKA. In 1938, he moved to Spartak Moscow, where he achieved his greatest success. With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War he joined Krylja Soviet Moscow, but in 1942 he returned to Spartak, where he served as captain.

CB/RB: Aleksandr Starostin (USSR)Before the founding of Spartak Moscow, he played for Moscow clubs: RGO Sokol (1918-1921), ISS (1922), Krasnaya Presnya (1923-1925), Food Industry (1926-1930) and Promkooperatsiya (1931, 1934), Dukat "(1932-1933). With Spartak Moscow, he was the first captain of the team. From 1931 to 1935, he played 11 unofficial matches for the Soviet Union. Since 1932, he was their captain.

CB: Viktor Onopko (USSR/Russia)He was an Ukrainian, but chose to play for Russia after the collapse of the USSR. He picked up 4 caps for CIS and 109 caps for Russia. He played in the 1994 and 2002 World Cups, as well as Euro 96. He played for Shakhtar Donetsk, Spartak Moscow, Real Oviedo, Rayo Vallecano, Alania Vladikavkaz and FC Saturn.

Viktor Onopko

CB Anatoli Bashashkin (USSR)He was captain of the Soviet Union at the 1952 Olympics, but following their politically embarrassing defeat to Yugoslavia he was stripped of the captaincy. He played CDSK Moscow and Spartak Moscow.

He earned 58 caps and scored 6 goals for the USSR , and played for them in the 1980 Summer Olympics, 1988 UEFA European Championship and the 1990 FIFA World Cup. He played for many clubs in Russia and France.SW/DM:Anatoli Maslyonkin(USSR)He earned 33 caps for the USSR national football team, and participated in two World Cups, as well as the first ever European Nations' Cup in 1960, where the Soviets were champions. He also won a goal medal in Football at the 1956 Summer Olympics

The Soviet player of the Yer in 1972. He played 52 for the USSR. He was one of the best fullback of his time. In 1970 he became the first player to be booked on a World Cup match, in the opening game of the tournament against Mexico. He played mainly for Spartak Moscow.

Evgeny Lovchev

DM/CM: Andrey Starostin (USSR)He was one of the famous Starostin brothers that made Spartak Moscow so famous. He played for clubs in Moscow Krasnaya Presnya (1923-1925), Pisheviki (1926-1930), Cooperatsiya (1931, 1934), Ducat (1932-1933), Spartak (1935-1942, captain team in 1937-1940). He played for the national team of Moscow - 1933-40, RSFSR - 1931-34. For the USSR national team played he played 10 informal matches from 1932-35 respectively, all against the Turkish national team. He also played hockey.CM: Igor Netto (USSR)He was regarded among the best midfielders in Soviet history. He played most of his career for Spartak Moscow. He was the captain of the USSR from 1954 to 1963. He led the country to the gold medal in the 1956 Summer Olympics, and victory at the first ever European Championship in 1960. He missed all but one match in the 1958 FIFA World Cup due to injury, and also played all four matches in the 1962 FIFA World Cup when the Soviet Union reached the quarterfinals. In total he collected 54 international caps and four goals.

He played 494 matches for Spartak Moscow between 1977 and 1993, more than any other player in the club's history. He played on the Soviet national team, scoring 12 goals in 32 appearances. He was the Soviet Player of the Year in 1983 and 1989.

Fyodor Cherenkov

RW: Valeri Karpin (Russia)At club level, Karpin has played for Fakel Voronezh (1989), Spartak Moscow (1990–94), Real Sociedad (1994–96 and 2002–05), Valencia CF (1996–97), and Celta Vigo (1997–2002). He retired at the end of the 2004–05 season with Real Sociedad. For Russia, Karpin has been capped 72 times, scoring 17 goals (also capped once for the CIS). He scored Russia's first goal after the breakup of the Soviet Union, in a 2–0 win against Mexico in 1992. Karpin played for Russia at the 1994 World Cup, Euro 96, and the 2002 World Cup.RW: Petr Starostin (USSR)The youngest of the Starostin brothers. He played for Spartak Moscow throughout the 1930's.

LW: Galimzyan Khusainov (USSR)He played for the Soviet Union national team (33 matches/4 goals), and was a participant at the 1962 FIFA World Cup, 1966 FIFA World Cup and at the 1964 European Nations' Cup, where the Soviet Union squad won the silver medal, despite his goal in the final.

AM: Andrey Tikhonov (Russia)Tikhonov won a total of eight Russian League titles with Spartak Moscow. He then had a short loan spell in Israel, before signing a contract with Krylia Sovetov Samara. From 1996 to 2000, he was capped 29 times. His international career was not as good as his club career.

Andrey Tikhonov

AM: Yegor Titov (Russia)Titov spent the majority of his club career at Spartak Moscow, starting in 1995, helping them to six consecutive league titles, and winning Russian Player of the Year in 1998 and 2000. He played for Russia at the 2002 World Cup and has amassed over 30 caps for his country.

Yegor Titov

FW: Nikolai Starostin (USSR)He was the eldest of four Starostin brothers. With the help from Alexander Kosarev, secretary of the Komsomol (Communist Union of Youth), he founded Spartak Moscow in the 1930's. Known for his rivalry with Dynamo Moscow and Lavrentiy Beria. He was jailed during the Great Purge.SR/FW: Boris Tatushin (USSR)Tatushin spent most of his career with Spartak Moscow. He made his debut for USSR on September 8, 1954 in a friendly against Sweden. He played in the 1958 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, but was not selected for the final tournament squad, because he was arrested with Eduard Streltsov and Mikhail Ogonkov over rape allegations and was disqualified for three years.ST: Anatoli Ilyin (USSR)Ilene spent his entire career with Spartak Moscow. He was capped 31 times for the Soviet Union. In 1956, he scored the winning goal the Olympics Gold Medal Matches. He participated in the 1958 WC Finals.ST: Sergey Rodionov (USSR)During his years at Spartak (1979–90, 1993–95) and Red Star Saint-Ouen (1990–93) he scored 162 goals. He was the league top scorer in 1989. He was a member of the USSR national team at the 1982 and 1986 World Cups.

ST: Sergei Salnikov (USSR)He played for both Dynamo and Spartak Moscow. He was part of the Soviet team that won the gold medal at the 1956 Olympics, where Salnikov scored two goals in the quarterfinal match against Indonesia. He is the grandfather of the Greek tennis player Stefanos Tsitsipas.ST Nikita Simonyan (USSR)He is the top scorer in the history of the club Spartak Moscow at 160 goals,and is also the top scorer in the Soviet Top League at 133 goals. He was the Soviet captain at the WC Finals in 1958. He was capped 20 times.

Nikita Simonyan

Honorable MentionAnzor Kavazashvili, Stanislav Cherchesov, Gennady Logofet, Nikolai Tishchenko, Ilya Tsymbalar, Aleksandr Bubnov, Ilya Tsymbalar, Aleksei Paramonov, Anatoli Isayev, Stanisław Leuta, Viktor Papayev, Squad Explanation-- Stanislav Cherchesov and Anzor Kavazashvili were considered for the goalkeepers.-- The Starostin brothers were associated with the founding of the club and how it turned soccer into a big sport in the Soviet Union. So all four of them made the squad. Their conflict with Lavrenty Beria was well-documented.